Nio Strategic Metals Announces Executive Leadership Changes

• Bruno Dumais, currently CFO appointed President and Chief Operating Officer
• Jean-Sebastien Blanchette, appointed as Chief Financial Officer

Montreal, April 9, 2026 - Nio Strategic Metals Inc. (TSXV: NIO) (OTC Pink: NIOCF) ("Nio" or the "Corporation"), a critical mineral exploration company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Bruno Dumais and Jean-Sébastien Blanchette to its executive suite. Mr. Dumais is appointed as President and Chief Operating Officer while Mr. Blanchette is joining as Chief Financial Officer.

Formerly CFO of Nio, Mr. Dumais has more than 30 years of senior management experience, including strategic development and plan execution at various local and international publicly-traded organizations, serving as their CFO. Known as a seasoned business leader constantly creating new opportunities while managing risks and uncertainties, he brings to the table the vision and communications abilities to further derisk and advance Nio's niobium exploration projects.

"I am very excited to be taking on this new role," said Mr. Dumais. "I believe Nio has great potential with its critical mineral property located in the Oka region that uniquely positions the Company under the current geopolitical uncertainty period surrounding the niobium supply" he added.

Mr. Blanchette has over 25 years of experience in the fields of finance and natural resources. Upon graduating from Yale University, he has worked on Wall Street as senior financial analyst and portfolio manager for various financial institutions, managing multi-hundred-million-dollar market neutral strategies in the energy and mining sectors. "I'm joining an already well-seasoned team with a rare asset base and am thrilled to be working with everyone," said Mr. Blanchette.

"Mr. Dumais is the right leader for Nio to promote our projects with local stakeholders, governmental agencies and partners," said Hubert Marleau, current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation. "Mr. Blanchette's extensive expertise and passion for leadership, business development and operations will help Nio strengthen partnerships, further develop strategic alliances, and expand our international sales presence."

"Following the recent funding round, Nio is extremely well positioned to demonstrate the potential benefits of our strategic niobium asset not only for local stakeholders, but also for the Canadian infrastructure, defence and aeronautical industries," added Mr. Marleau.

Stock Option Grant

The Board of Directors also announced that it has granted a total of 4,000,000 stock options to directors and officers under its stock option incentive plan, at an exercise price of $0.27 per share. The options have a five-year term. The stock options are subject to the terms and conditions of the Corporation's stock option plan and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Nio Strategic Metals

Nio Strategic Metals is an exploration and development company, with a focus on becoming a ferroniobium producer. The Corporation holds niobium properties located in Oka and near Mont-Laurier and another exploration property in the Province of Québec.

For more information on the Corporation, please refer to the Corporation's public documents available on SEDAR (www.sedarplus.ca) or on the Corporation's website (https://niostratmet.com/) or contact:

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Statements, other than statements of historical facts, may be forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved", the negative of these terms and similar terminology although not all forward-looking statement contains these terms and phrases. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set out in Nio Strategic Metals' annual and/or quarterly management discussion and analysis and in other of its public disclosure documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca, as well as all assumptions regarding the foregoing. Although Nio Strategic Metals believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frame or at all. Except where required by applicable law, Nio Strategic Metals disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/291756